Rita Panahi: Enforcing mandatory vaccines is a step too far

Vaccine rollouts should be compulsory in some industries, but to force healthy individuals not working in high risk areas to be inoculated is a step too far.

The development of an effective coronavirus vaccine in less than a year is one of man’s greatest modern achievements.

It’ll allow Australia to open our borders and re-join the world.

But should we force the vaccine on unwilling Australians?

Do employers have the right to demand that their staff be vaccinated to earn a pay cheque?

A number of employers, industry groups and government departments are considering doing just that though the majority surveyed by the Herald Sun are against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations.

For some industries such as aged care the vaccine should be compulsory – after all that workforce already has a mandatory flu vaccine program in place – and they work in a sector where the risk of serious complications and death from COVID-19 are significant.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has gone one step further and said that customers, as well as staff, must be immunised against COVID-19 before boarding an international flight.

However, the international aviation industry has not backed Joyce’s position and it remains unclear if he can force such a requirement on passengers.

COVID vaccinations should be mandatory for all Victorian workers at high risk of getting or giving the deadly virus, according to one of the state’s peak business bodies.

Scott Morrison got himself into a spot of bother when in August he said the COVID-19 vaccine would be “as mandatory as you can possibly make it”.

“There are always exemptions for any vaccine on medical grounds, but that should be the only basis,” he said.

That caused alarm bells to ring on a number of fronts and within hours the prime minister backtracked and assured Australians that no one would be vaccinated against their will.

“It’s not going to be compulsory to have the vaccine,” he said.

“There are no mechanisms for compulsory … I mean, we can’t hold someone down and make them take it.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was force to backtrack on his mandatory vaccines stance.

One can only hope that the vaccine is not only safe and effective but is embraced by a large percentage of the population allowing us to return to normal.

Personally, I’m ready to be jabbed purely because the idea of seeking permission from government to travel overseas fills me with considerable dread.

We have allowed our rights and civil liberties to be annihilated due to a virus with a survival rate north of 95 per cent.

Australia should prioritise vulnerable populations, the elderly and infirm, to receive the vaccine first but to force healthy individuals, not working in high risk areas, to be inoculated against their will is a step too far.

No one working in a shop, school or office should be sacked because they have failed to be vaccinated against coronavirus.